The other day, this photo arrived in the mail. A late Christmas card from a distant family friend? Not quite. Flipping it over, I realized it was a postcard from the Fay Gold Gallery announcing this month's show of Tina Barney's photographs.
Barney began photographing friends and family in the 1980's in well-to-do enclaves of the East Coast. While her settings are staged, the resulting photograph captures the spontaneous movement and split-second thoughts that may flicker across the mind of her subjects. An artistic precursor to reality television, perhaps?
Each photograph is a little mystery, and fans of Barney's work spend hours trying to unravel the story provided by clues in the details. Faces may be tense or indifferent--challenging the notion that material wealth yields smiling happiness.
If you are in Atlanta this month, I highly recommend the show at Fay Gold which combines early American work with her more recent photographs taken in Europe.
13 comments:
Terrific! Thanks for sharing!
Cool, I like those!
xo
Very, very interesting. Quite different -- I like the mysterious aspect!
Ohhhh...I would so love to see that exhibit. I love the ajective used by jennifer: mysterious. It makes me wonder what else was going on in the room at the time.
Thanks for the tip. Will definitely have to check that out.
These photos have such a unique quality to them - thank you for the introduction.
Fascinating! I much prefer these portraits to the typical posed one. Thanks! :)
I love these photos! Thanks so much for sharing the info!
They remind me of one of my favorite painters,
"Fairfield Porter" - He painted the "privileged" in a modern way, one that seems as if they were watching him. In interesting introspective quality,
I love the reworking of the concept lets not forget that symbolism has been a part of art for ever. Think Leonardo,the Mona Lisa, Last Supper I am sure that if cameras where around they would have done the same.
thanks for the reminder. Apart from the psychological aspects, complexity etc, the interiors are Sargent-worthy lush.
I absolutely ADORE Tina Barney's work. But, at a staring price of $15,000, it's still out of my price range... oh to dream!
love that chic woman in the top photo. interesting spin on typical portraits. they tell a story with out telling you a thing. actually... they leave me wanting so much more! fabulous. thanks for the link ;)
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